By Brett Dailey

Our final pre-Moncton spotlight goes to Rothesay, New Brunswick’s Johnny Montes. Riding for the KTM Canada team this year, Montes spent the winter in Florida and came out swinging when the Canadian season started. He has won a few prestigious Atlantic races this year and really showed some speed at the Quebec arenacross rounds. During the MX2 East nationals, Montes finished 5-7 at Ste-Julie and DNF-6 at Gopher Dunes. The DNF in the first moto at Gopher Dunes was a heartbreaker as Montes was running inside the top five late in that moto before going down. He’s in seventh overall in the standings with two rounds to go but could be as high as fourth if it were not for his DNF.

Montes drove out west to try the MX1 rounds but decided to pack it in and focus on the resumption of the MX2 East series at his home track in Moncton. I was at the Mill Hill race last weekend in Nova Scotia and it appears that Montes has been working hard during the break as he looked faster than ever. In the final 450 moto at Mill Hill, he grabbed a second place start on his 250F (behind Mitch Cooke) and put the pass on Cooke and led for a few laps. He has a good shot at a podium in Moncton and he has the confidence to pull it off.

RXC: Johnny, lets talk about the motos today. You got a win in the 125 class and put in some really fast laps in the 450 class on your 250F.
Johnny Montes: Yeah, I rode my 250F in the 450 class so I was a little down on power so I just had to push a little harder [laughs]. I came here to win the 125 class. Cooke came here and [Ryan] Lockhart came and that was my goal—to win the 125 class this weekend—so I was pumped about that.

You did get the overall in the 125 class with a 2-1.
Yes, I’m happy with the overall. It helps out with the team—keep KTM on top of the box. I’ve been working hard and I’m glad that it’s paying off. I don’t feel like I’m getting tired out there. The motos aren’t very long here but we have the national this weekend so it’s good to have a little confidence going into Moncton.

Tell us a bit about the bike. You said that you’ve been riding the same bike since November?
Yeah, my KTM 250F. I’m lucky because some guys on other brands have had a little trouble but my 250F has to be the best bike I’ve ever owned. I’ve been riding and racing it a lot since November. It’s the same bike I raced during the arenacross series and the same bike that I practice on and race around here. The thing just seems bullet proof.

You admit that you’re fairly hard on bikes as well so I guess it’s been put through the ringer.
Well, I ride half hour motos for practice so it’s not like I’m going out for five laps and then parking it. I’ve been riding a lot too. I can’t believe that it’s going. It pulls—I almost pulled the holeshot in the 450 class today. My hat is off to KTM, they built a really good bike.

You’re coming into Moncton, which should be a good round for you.
Well, if I can just stay calm, I have a real good shot at putting it on the podium and that’s my goal. I won’t be happy unless I can put it on the podium. Hopefully I can do that. I’ll be on my national bike, which is brand new and faster than this bike. I feel really confident, I’ve been doing long motos and training really hard to get ready for Moncton. I’m ready to go.

Talk a bit about the western series. You decided to drive out there but you ended up coming back?
I had a little bit of bad luck out there. I was pretty tired for the first round and I got landed on and stuff so I decided to take the first weekend off. The second weekend, I put a little bit of time on my 450 but it wasn’t enough and I just didn’t have the results. Andy White and I talked and we decided that it was better that I just go home and focus on the east. I have a lot of confidence on my 250F but I didn’t want to finish 14th on the 450. I’m not happy with that and the team didn’t hire me to finish in 14th. We just decided to come home and regroup for the last two MX2 rounds and try to break the top five overall.

What happened at Gopher Dunes with your DNF?
Well, I was in fourth at the time and if I had finished that moto—there were only four laps to go—I’d be fourth in points right now. So, I’m seventh in points now with two rounds to go and Moncton is the next round so if I can have good results there, I should be able to break into the top five for the team. [Michael] Willard and [Matt] Barnes are second and third and if I can sneak into the top five, that would be real good for our team. I think we have the strongest team out there for the 125 class. If we can get the three of us in the top five, that would be huge for our team and our sponsors.

How did you crash at Gopher Dunes?
I just spun out hit the side of the jump and fell over. My bike stalled and I just couldn’t start it and I DNF’d the moto. It’s difficult to work that hard and something foolish like that happens. That’s the thing with these four strokes, sometimes they are stubborn, they get hot and they just won’t start. But it’s no big deal, I’ve been doing well in my motos and everyone knows that I’m a top five guy.

What have you been doing during the break?
I’ve been running a lot, doing motos. I have a couple of guys that come to practice with me and they help out with timing my laps. I’ve just been trying to get myself ready and I can’t worry about anyone else.

What sponsors would you like to thank for helping you out this season?
I’d like to thank the whole Stoneridge KTM team. I’d like to thank M2R, Ogio, Pirelli, everyone that helps out our team. My mechanic, [Todd] Kuli, and my dad helps me out a lot and I have a lot of sponsors that help me out here at home as well for these local races like Mike’s Transport, Base Engineering and Action Cycles has been a huge help.

Thanks Johnny.
Thanks.